Album

From the first notes of Les illuminations, where the violin and viola exchange their wild barrage of fanfares, it's apparent that this is likely to be an exceptional recording, and that expectation is fully realized in the outstanding performances of these four relatively early works by Benjamin Britten. In the readings by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, leading the Québec-based Les Violons du Roy, there is no hint of preciousness; the group's raw athleticism shows off the music's feral intensity, a quality too rarely heard in performances of Britten, but which obviously captures something essential about these scores. The abandon with which Zeitouni and the orchestra attack the fugues at the end of Prelude and Fugue for 18-Part String Orchestra and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge makes the music sound dangerously daring, and the playing in Les illuminations is thrilling in its spontaneity and nuance. Soprano Karina Gauvin brings a ferocious commitment to Les illuminations, revealing an astonishing power in music that is frequently treated as primarily pretty and decorative. The commanding authority of her opening pronouncement, "J'ai seul la clé de cette parade sauvage" (I alone have the key to this savage parade), demands that the listener sit up and take notice, and her interpretation of each of the songs is both thoughtful and viscerally gripping. She sings with intensely full and focused tone and soars with a velvety sheen over the orchestra. Her superb performance of this cycle is easily one of the finest on disc. Atma's sound is clean and warm, with a distinctively vibrant and detailed sense of presence. Highly recommended.

© Stephen Eddins, Rovi

CD 1
Benjamin Britten Composer Les Illuminations, Op.18 (song cycle; text by Rimbaud; for voice and strings) Work 21:38 Les Violons du Roy Ensemble, Karina Gauvin Soprano, Jean-Marie Zeitouni Conductor
1	1.Fanfare. Maestoso. Largamente	1:54			$0.99
2	2.Villes. Allegro energico	2:30			$0.99
3	3a.Phrase. Lento ed estatico	1:00			$0.99
4	3b.Antique. Allegretto, un poco mosso	2:14			$0.99
5	4.Royauté. Allegro maestoso	1:33			$0.99
6	5.Marine. Allegro con brio	1:07			$0.99
7	6.Interlude. Moderato ma comodo	2:12			$0.99
8	7.Being Beauteous. Lento ma comodo	3:57			$0.99
9	8.Parade. Alla marcia	2:47			$0.99
10	9.Départ. Largo mesto. Largamente	2:24			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer Prelude and Fugue, for 18 strings, Op.29 Work Les Violons du Roy Ensemble, Pascale Giguère Violin, Karina Gauvin Soprano, Jean-Marie Zeitouni Conductor
11	Prelude and Fugue, for 18 strings, Op.29	9:03			$1.49
Benjamin Britten Composer Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge, for strings, Op.10 Work 25:45 Les Violons du Roy Ensemble, Pascale Giguère Violin, Karina Gauvin Soprano, Jean-Marie Zeitouni Conductor
12	Introduction and Theme	1:48			$0.99
13	Variation 1: Adagio	2:04			$0.99
14	Variation 2: March	1:07			$0.99
15	Variation 3: Romance	1:31			$0.99
16	Variation 4: Aria Italiana	1:20			$0.99
17	Variation 5: Bourree classique	1:10			$0.99
18	Variation 6: Wiener Waltzer	2:33			$0.99
19	Variation 7: Moto perpetuo	1:06			$0.99
20	Variation 8: Funeral March	3:50			$0.99
21	Variation 9: Chant	1:38			$0.99
22	Variation 10: Fugue and Finale	7:38			$1.49
Benjamin Britten Composer Now sleeps the crimson petal, for tenor, horn and strings (song) Work Les Violons du Roy Ensemble, Louis-Philippe Marsolais Horn, Karina Gauvin Soprano, Jean-Marie Zeitouni Conductor
23	Now sleeps the crimson petal, for tenor, horn and strings (song)	2:46			$0.99